Cuneiform is the name for several writing systems used in the
Near East. The principal writing ground was the clay tablet, in which 'cuneiform'
signs were incised with a wedge (cuneus - Latin for 'wedge'). Cuneiform was
used for several languages: Sumerian, Akkadian, Persian. Sumerian is the oldest
recorded language; the script for Sumerian was developed from about 3500 BC.
In ancient Iraq (Mesopotamia) Akkadian replaced Sumerian about 2000 BC.

From the New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) on, close diplomatic
ties are attested between Egypt and several states in the Near East. The language
used was Akkadian. In Amarna an archive with the international correspondence
of the Amarna Period was excavated. At some places in the Near East letters
written in Akkadian send by the Egyptian kings have been found.

Cuneiform was also used for monumental inscriptions in the Achaemenid
Iranian Empire. A few such inscriptions have also been found in Egypt, from
the period of Achaemenid rule (525-404 BC and 343-332 BC).